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A Sign of Things to Come?

The market's been rocky. Now what?

We aren't alone, at least. Only 50 of the S&P 500 stocks broke even over this period. Among the few in the green were Juniper Networks (NASDAQ:JNPR) and Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS).

Considering the market volatility we've experienced over the past 10 months, investors have to be wondering whether this is a sign of things to come. And after four years of solid market gains, it wouldn't be out of the question for the market to enter a prolonged selling period.

On the other hand, perhaps the markets are so convinced of an impending slide that the confluence of global credit concerns, a weak dollar, and the subprime mortgage fallout may turn out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Whatever the case may be, recent events remind us yet again of the stock market's risk and volatility.

Lesson learnedWhile this would be a great time to reassess your risk exposure, it would be folly to sell off your stocks based solely on recent events.

Juniper Networks and Electronic Arts are just two recent examples that show how not all stocks follow general market sentiment.

In fact, during the last bear market from August 2000 to March 2003, when the S&P shed 42% of its value, fully 1,810 stocks posted positive gains.

But all of them did share something in 2000: free cash flow. In other words, each company was fiscally sound and generating extra cash by the time the bear market rolled around. This made it much easier for them to go about business as usual during a very hectic time for the U.S. markets.

Bringing it full circle
So while last week's volatility served as yet another wake-up call for investors, it was also a reminder that not all stocks follow adverse market trends. Now's a great time to make sure you're invested in financially sound companies with strong business models and reasonable valuations.

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This article was originally published Feb. 28, 2007. It has been updated.